


I'm Not Yours to Keep (But I'll Stay if you Ask)

by IHearttheHitachiinTwins



Series: Em's Dragon Witch AU [1]
Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: Animal Abuse, Based on Em-be-lievable's Dragon Witch Au, Blood, Dee is a little kid and I love him, Dehumanising language, Gen, I'll put it anyway, Implied pre-analogical, Kinda, No need to pussyfoot around, Remy is a good big bro, Sympathetic Deceit Sanders, Well actaully a fanfic for it, but i got permission
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-18
Updated: 2018-09-18
Packaged: 2019-07-13 23:34:31
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,485
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16028321
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/IHearttheHitachiinTwins/pseuds/IHearttheHitachiinTwins
Summary: Logan has been keeping a secret from their draconian house-guest, and the discovery of that secret has tipped Virgil's world upside down and Logan's into disarray. Shortly afterwards, Virgil is missing and a worrying presence in the market has the royals fearing for the sanctuary of their kingdom.





	I'm Not Yours to Keep (But I'll Stay if you Ask)

**Author's Note:**

> I'm not one for author's notes, but I'M AWARE THAT THIS IS KINDA DARK. PLEASE HEED THE TAGS AND TELL ME IF I NEED TO ADD ANY! I DON'T WANT ANYONE GETTING HURT!

Over the course of his considerable life, Virgil has grown comfortable in both of his forms. He is hardly the pinnacle of self-confidence, but immortality tends to allow one to come to terms with their own image. Even so, he feels… unusual, when he wakes up. His eyes snap open to unfamiliar walls. The asymmetric stone of a natural cave, but not the familiar ones of his home in the mountains. There is no visible exit or real source of light, but he can see, so there must be one somewhere. Lifting his head, he almost topples when his neck stretches further than it had in months. He looks down and sees his hands beneath him are no longer hands, and he is no longer as close to the ground as he has become accustomed.

He whacks his head against the ceiling of wherever he is, his horns scraping it and sending a shower of powdered stone and dust into his eyes and nose. Alarmed, he sneezed and blinked the obstruction away. Returning his gaze to the floor, he realizes that he can see despite the dark. Everything tinged in a slight yellow, but otherwise clear as day. He stares in fascination at his curved talons, lined with dark purple scales, glimmering in the low light of his surroundings.

He’s a dragon again.

Virgil blinks and as sleepy surprise gives way to awareness, he feels his larger body. He can feel the potential power in his limbs and taste the sooty capacity for fire in the back of his throat. He is surprised by the alien feeling of it, after becoming used to the compact human form. Now he tests his other, reveling in the pleasure of exercising that which has been too-long stagnant. Feeling a sudden rush of excitement-fueled energy, he stretches his wings with a happy croon. Oh yeah, that felt good. Stretching a muscle that has been coiled and cramped for months. He flaps his wings a few times and yawns, stretching out his jaw and extending his tongue as far as it will go. His body is grateful to finally occupy more space.

Simply for the fun of it, he opens his mouth and roars, loud and shrieking. The cave carries the sound, bouncing off the walls until it becomes an indistinguishable rumble vibrating the stalactites. An amused huff escapes Virgil’s nostrils and he sits back, more comfortable than he has been in some time. He considered his new situation with contented curiosity. How had this happened? Had the spell simply worn off?

Casting his eyes about his surroundings, he begins to take note of where he is. Beyond it being a cave, there is little in the way of identifiable landmarks. It seems to simply be a hollow cavern in the earth. Frowning, he searched for an entrance, but cannot spot one, the whole place is an isolated cocoon with no discernable entry way.

All of a sudden, Virgil is less pleased about his sudden return of his scaled form and more concerned for how he got here.

He has adjusted to waking in unfamiliar locations, so he hadn’t questioned it at first, more preoccupied by his return of a tail. (As it turns out he sleepwalks when he’s separated from his brothers, Logan finds it fascinating, Patton just thinks it’s cute.) Even so, he has no idea how he could have possibly managed to get himself into this predicament. Turning on his tail, he tries to spot an entry way behind him with the same result. There’s no way for him to have got in.

There’s no way for him to get out.

Sudden stress coils it’s way up his spine like a snake. He begins examining nooks and crannies, looking for a crack large enough for his human form to wriggle through, but there is nothing. Every crack is no deeper than a foot and goes nowhere.

Virgil’s heart began to pound and he thrashes his tail nervously. The carven suddenly feels too small. His lungs begin to heave in his enormous chest and the temperature began to spike in the enclosed space. The air began to feel thick and smoke is starting to curl out of the cracks of his mouth. He coils up tighter and compresses his magic. He waits for the feeling of scale receding into skin and shrinking down into a form almost too small, but not. To be smaller, make the space bigger, feel safer…

He doesn’t.

He feels his panic reach new heights as the transformation doesn’t come bidden. The cavern feels smaller than ever before as he realizes that something is very wrong here. His previous joy evaporates as he comes to the conclusion that hos body is still not in his control. His draconic body starts to tremble and he curls as tight as he can and hides his head under his wing.

He craves companionship, needs someone there to ground him. For Remy to run blunt fingernails over his snout or Dee to chatter on about nothing and everything. The scent of Patton making tea or Roman’s boisterous singing as he goes about his day. The soft clipping of Logan’s boots against the floor, tapping as he cards through the pages of ancient tomes.

He wants his family… and they aren’t here.

* * *

 

‘What do you mean he’s _gone?_ ’ Remy signs jerkily, a slight tremor in his fingers all that betrays his worry behind the anger.

“I mean he’s gone.” Logan replies evenly. “As in, he is here last night and is not here now. He said he is going to the orchard last night, he never returned. We assumed if he is with you.” Remy runs a hand through his hair, tracing the base of his horns. Logan’s body is drawn and profiled, but there is a tightness at his eyes that tells of worry. Behind him, Roman is uncharacteristically quiet.

Dee watched Remy take an even breath and consider carefully what they are being told. It isn’t entirely unusual for Virgil to wonder off on occasion, but it is rare for him to not return. Vee is a homing pigeon, he always came back.

“Vee doesn’t take trips always. He may not have gotten distracted.”

Roman made a face in the background and Logan’s blank face betrayed just a little concern.

“I do not think… I doubt that Virgil would have had much more on his mind other than what we discussed when he departed.”

That caught the two witches’ attention and Remy’s eyes narrowed, both of them catching the unsaid admission. Dee felt the air around Remy shift as ancient powers stirred in him, poised to strike if necessary.

‘You upset him.”

It isn’t a question.

“I fear we may have… spooked him some.”

“That’s a very good thing, thank you for that.” Dee drawled, rolling his eyes. “It’s especially great how you didn’t let him go off in a group afterwards.”

A slight flush appeared across Logan’s nose.

“W- well if he isn’t with you, we need to find him. He could be in trouble.”

That had all four of them subduing, because Logan is right. Virgil _could_ be in trouble. Dee felt his fangs dig into the flash of his lip anxiously. He made eye contact with Remy before nodding and letting his older brother grab his wrist and guide him from the room.

* * *

 

Virgil must have passed out at some point because he woke up gain. This time he is significantly more uncomfortable than he is the first time, and not nearly as painless. His mouth is powdery and tasted of soot. His body is lay out in a slightly unnatural position and he is lower to the ground that is strictly comfortable.

Trying to stretch out, he found himself now unable to do so as he had been the first time he woke. He groaned and tried a little harder, only to find cold, metal obstructions. He could hear the clanking of chains hitting one another and feel the weight of where he figured the manacles are attached. His heart sunk as he realized that he is in significantly more trouble than he thought.

He knew that his fear wanted to claw him down again, but he is too close to his last breakdown to have the energy to panic for a second time. Instead he robotically tried to identify some way out. There would be time for fear later, but for now he needed to get out of here right now.

Thrashing is proving ineffective, all that is happening is the metal bands on his limbs are beginning to dig into him and hurt. He feels his back leg grow wet as the skin of his leg gives out, or maybe he ripped out a scale. He doesn’t know, and he doesn’t really want to. The stabbings of pain from the new wound force him to cease his struggling and think about what he’s doing. It isn’t conducive to anything, so he stops. He tries to turn his head to direct it at the chains, but there is another iron ring around his neck and snout, keeping his head in place and his mouth shut.

It concerns him how effectively he’s pinned, like a butterfly in a glass case.

“Are you done?”

An unfamiliar voice from behind has Virgil flinching and trying to wriggle away once again. He tries to turn and see the owner of it, but the restraints prevented that as well. He’s at the mercy of this person, and would only see them if they decide to walk into his field of vision. Fortunately, they do deign to do that. It’s a man with a mask over his face, in obstructing robes that hide everything about his identity. The only thing that proves him a man at all is his robes, which are a man’s cut.

“Good.” Virgil watched the man approach him with wild eyes. The man lays a hand on the tip of Virgil’s snout and runs his fingers over his scales a few times. “You are a beautiful creature, it will do you no good to harm yourself. We need you in good condition.”

Virgil is still trying to figure out what that means when the man’s gentle petting is followed by a shot of pain. The man digs his fingers under a scale and rips it out from his skin, leaving him with a sparkling purple scale in his hands.

“Perfect.” The man mutters, turning the scale in the light of the torch he carries. “You will serve us well. In the meantime, sleep.”

The man places his hand again on Virgil’s snout, and then there is nothing _._

* * *

 

_"Hey Logan?”_

_“Yes Virgil? How are you this evening.”_

_“I’m fine, is it true?”_

_Logan stiffens and turns away from the alchemic pot at the fireplace._

_“Is what true?”_

_“That you’ve made a breakthrough with the spell? I heard you talking to Roman in the hall.”_

_Logan makes a miniscule movement that looks suspiciously like a flinch and Virgil surges forward._

_“Are you any closer to figuring it out?”_

_“Well…”_

* * *

 

While Logan and Remy collaborate on a spell to locate the errant dragon witch, Roman and Dee wandered to the orchard and inner town to try find a trace of Virgil. Roman isn’t quite sure what to make of the littlest witch-beast. His speech patterns made him a little confusing to converse with, and it is no secret that Roman loved to converse, but with a little effort he found the basilisk to be enjoyable company. He knew more about sword-craft than his brothers, or any of the other knights for that matter. Swords are slightly out of style in favor of crossbows and daggers at the moment, so having someone to talk to about roman’s weapon of choice is a welcome change.

“Dragon fore is the absolute worst way of making a blade, it can’t make the blade immune to curses, when I’m old enough I’ll never ask Virgil to light my forge…”

Roman nodded, most legendary swords had been at least breathed on by a dragon or two, but couldn’t help but internally wince at the thought of Virgil being a dragon again. Dee growing up… The beast-witches leaving the castle… leaving them…

He snapped out of his reverie when he saw a group of people in robes huddled in an alley on the way to the orchard. That looked incredibly shady. He turned off and put a hand on his hilt, ready to draw if needed.

“Hey!”

The people looked up at him. They are all wearing masks, so he couldn’t see who they are, but something in Roman’s gut twisted. Something isn’t right here.

The cloaked figures dispersed, running in different directions and leaving Roman helpless and not knowing which one to follow. Dee walked up to  where they had been standing moments before, having noticed Roman’s distraction, and dug in the dust for something. Roman peered over his shoulder and saw Dee unearth something silvery and wispy.

“What’s that?”

Roman asked.

“It’s not unicorn hair… but that’s legal. Very legal. Not even among humans.”

Roman’s eyes widened.

Great, first a missing dragon witch, and now a black market in the city.

* * *

 

The tubes coming out of Virgil’s skin stung, but it didn’t compare to the pain of the people pulling scales off of his wings. They had baskets that they are filling with the purple scales, some are almost half full and his skin is getting raw and sore from the constant abuse. He had howled and tried to shake them off at first, but now he is tired and his efforts had not deterred them.

He isn’t sure how long it had been at this point, as he watched a steady line of blood travel up the tubes and into one of the cylinders off to the side of the cavern, filling steadily with red. Every so often someone would syphon off about half of it and leave room for more to enter. Virgil is in no danger of dying of blood loss at this rate, but it did leave him woozy, and weaker than he would like.

Are the others looking for him? He hoped so, but considering… He didn’t know for certain. Besides, even if they are, how would they find him? The people came and went, but Virgil somehow never saw them go. He didn’t know how to get out or alert the others to his location.

Are his brothers worried?

Are they even looking?

Virgil let out a reedy whine as another wave of pain came from his wings.

He really hated this.

* * *

 

It had been almost a week and Remy is just about ready to start ripping this town to shreds. He and Logan had performed the finding spell, which had led them to a paddock in the middle of nowhere with no Virgil in sight. Hours of calling and no response had the going home empty hands and even more concerned. This is like when they thought Virgil is kidnapped, but worse because he actually probably is kidnapped this time, and as much as Dee whines about Virgil being a stupid smoke-brain who couldn’t stay out of trouble, they are both worried.

Even more worrying is the black market that is slowly but surely stealing the royal’s attention. Apparently people in robes and masks are selling illegal items. Namely, the body parts of supernatural creatures, Jewelry made of unicorn hair and manticore venom and centaur hooves… anything with alleged healing or protective properties. Remy didn’t like that at all, and are everything normal, he would have packed up and left long before now.

Chimera and basilisk venom fetches a pretty price.

Unfortunately, so did dragon’s blood, and allegedly dragon scales could be used to make mirrors that could grant wishes.

Remy is glad, for the first and only time, that Virgil is unable to transform and had the good sense to hide his nature from the humans of the town. The thoughts of what would happen to Virgil if these people knew what he is…

They kept him up at night.

He sips lightly on Patton’s tea as he ponders, He had been trying to make green tea for himself this past week, but no one made it like Virgil did, eventually he stops trying and just drank what is given to him.

He hates just waiting around in the palace ad waiting for something to happen, but with the new developments, and Virgil still missing, he and Dee are stuck until either something changes, or the situation got bad enough that he would have to take Dee and go.

With or without Virgil.

There is a crash and he looks up to see Roman and Logan enter with a large sack between them.

“We managed to catch a group of the black merchants and apprehend them. They are in custody now.”

Logan said, prim as ever despite being slightly out of breath. Roman had the crazed look of battle about him, but he did look grave.

“This is what they had with them.”

The two princes gingerly empties the sack onto the table and Patton enters king mode as he looks over the illegal wares. It is much the same of what the merchants have been found with all week, if not in higher quantities. The only thing that is different is half a vial of red liquid that they haven’t seen before. Patton picks it up and peeress into it.

“It’s blood.”

Patton announces. Remy frowns, fear beginning to curdle in his belly as Patton cracks the cork to look inside.

It is on that day that Remy’s worst fears are realized. He would happily go back to an eternity of solitude if this one moment in history rewrote itself. As the scent of the blood inside of the vial leaks out and hit his nose, as he drew it in and tastes it and felt sick as he came to terms with it, because it is the same blood. The same blood as Virgil swearing up a storm because he’s cut himself or bitten his tongue too hard.

‘It’s dragon’s blood.’

He signs with shaking hands.

‘It’s Virgil’s blood.’

* * *

 

Virgil manages to hurt one of the harvesters. They come too close to his leg, trying to get a large scale on his belly. A twitch is all it takes and the person is nearly crushed under his weight. It wasn’t intentional, a flinch in response to pain there, but it brings his captor’s attention to him.

The man from before returns. Just as before, he pets Virgil’s snout.

“It’s alright, you didn’t know what you were doing, did you? You were just in pain, that’s my fault.”

The man croons.

_Yes, it is your fault, don’t talk to me like that._

The man’s tone sets Virgil on edge. It’s patronizing and grating, like someone talking to a child or a pet.

“It’s okay, I can make you all sleepy so it’s won’t hurt anymore.”

He continues to pet Virgil’s snout and all Virgil wants to do is open his mouth and eat him, but that doesn’t happen. What happens instead is Virgil grows tired. His limbs grow heavy and his senses feel muted. He feels blissed out and sleepy, the pain recedes, and Virgil begins to dream. He has a vague notion that the harvesters are continuing with their work, but he’s a little too detached to care.

* * *

 

_“It was a dead end?”_

_Logan nods._

_“I thought I had made progress, but I hadn’t.”_

_Virgil noticeably slumps_

_“I’m sorry, I was…”_

_Logan closes his eyes briefly before sitting at the table, patting the chair beside him and inviting Virgil to join him._

_“It is alright, I understand that you wish to have your power returned to you, but these things take time.”_

_“I just… Always feel like I’m intruding on you guys.”_

_Logan scoffed._

_“There is no way. I have it on good authority that Roman and Patton are going to be devastated if you ever leave, as… as will I be.”_

_Virgil smiled at him before the smile slowly slid off of his face._

_“What do you mean… *if* I ever leave?”_

_“I misspoke, my apologies.”_

_Virgil mustered a smile, though it was clearly forced and turned to leave._

_“Sorry for disturbing you.”_

* * *

 

More of the merchants show up with every passing day, and more and more of them have blood vials with them. Logan has been working tirelessly with Roman to track their base of operations, but they always manage to slip away, and nothing has come from trying to interrogate them into revealing it willingly. Remy and Dee have been quiet, retreating to the bowels of Virgil’s room and not emerging for days at a time. The palace has essentially returned to the way it was before they met Virgil.

It, for lack of a better word, sucks.

Everyone is sad. Patton and Roman send longing glances towards the horizon and guilty stares into the palace spires. Logan himself feels Virgil’s absence like a ball and chain, guilt and saudade weighing on him heavily. The night before Virgil disappeared plays over in his head like an accusation and he can’t bear to sleep and face it.

He has been brewing a truth serum to try coax Virgil’s location from the merchants, but the process takes so long and he can’t bear to think of what could be happening to Virgil at that moment. Where he might be.

He turns back to the potion, it is the best he can do right now.

* * *

 

_Logan came down at about midnight to stir the potion, only to see Virgil sitting by the fire._

_“Misspoke huh?”_

_Virgil said, without turning. He opened his hand and out fell some scrolls. Scrolls Logan recognized._

_“Looks like you knew what you were talking about to me.”_

_Virgil turned, and it was as if the fire in the fire place had somehow transferred into his eyes, burning like a thousand suns._

_“Just when were you going to tell me you were finished?”_

_Logan flinches_

_“It is not finished.”_

_Logan said, mouth dry. Virgil huffed._

_“It’s close enough. You didn’t even tell me. A few more adjustments and you’ll be sweet. Remy could probably iron them out in seconds, and you know it. Why didn’t you tell us?”_

_There is accusation in those eyes and Logan cannot lie anymore._

_“We don’t want you to leave. Patton, Roman, me… We want you to stay. I… hoped we could convince you before I finished the spell.”_

_Virgil’s eyes went dark._

_“You were stalling.”_

_Logan nodded, ashamed._

_“Just a little.”_

_Virgil growled and turned away, scrolls in hand. He marched to the door and stormed through it._

_“Don’t follow me.”_

_Virgil snarled, and slammed the door behind him, leaving Logan alone._

* * *

 

Logan’s serum works and the next thing Dee knows, the five of them are storming back over to the paddock the finding spell led them to. Logan searches the ground for sigils hidden in the ground and whispers words of power. A staircase appears as if it had always been there. Remy storms down them, a force of nature. Dee has no doubt that he would be transformed were the tunnel large enough to allow it. As it is, there is a veritable storm cloud above the chimera’s head.

The tunnel is dark and Logan lights the way with a spell. Patton is in his armor and has a serious face on.

All of them are to weary of Virgil’s absence to make a joke of this, they just want him back.

According to the merchant they questioned, harvesting hours are over for the day.

‘Harvesting hours’.

Whatever that means, it can’t be good.

The stairs seem to go on forever, until they finally reach an oaken door. Patton takes hold of the handle and looks back at them, gesturing to be quiet. They nod and the door swings open. There are gasps and a loud hiss from Remy.

“By the beard of Zeus…”

Roman sounds disgusted.

Dee tries to see what has them all so shocked, but Remy jerks him back and covers his eyes before turning him to face away from the door.

‘Don’t look.’

His big brother signs. Serious like he never is except for super important things.

‘Dee, don’t look, just stay here.’

Dee looks up at Remy. The air is thick with the scent of blood and the others sound appalled. Dee isn’t a kid, he’s hundreds of years old, but Remy looks deadly serious.

“It’s not okay, I’ll look.”

Remy smiles at him, but it looks strained.

* * *

 

_Virgil ran until he made it to the orchard, unsure of what else to do. Finding the scrolls had been like a stab to the heart, a betrayal. He had thought he could trust them, how could Logan have kept this from him? Virgil loved spending time at the palace, but without his power he felt… empty._

_And for what reason? Because Logan was afraid his departure would upset them? It just seemed… selfish. He chuckled bitterly. Typical humans._

_Virgil tossed the scrolls at his feet. He should probably examine them properly and cast the spell to release the curse, but at the moment, the thought made him feel sick. The thought of Logan’s neat handwriting and hard work… He closed his eyes slowly and took a harsh breath out. A ring of smoke formed, flowing from his nostrils._

_He heard footsteps behind him, but didn’t turn._

_“Did you come to apologize, or excuse yourself?”_

_He asked to the air._

_“Neither.”_

_…that wasn’t Logan’s voice._

_The familiar tang of magic filled the air, and then everything was dark._

* * *

 

Remy had seen things in his time, horrible things. He had lived through the beginning and the end of the magical dark ages. All four world wars and The Divide. He had witnessed heinous crimes, magical and technological in origin, and they haunted his mind at night. He had walked through the remnants of prison camps and been appalled at human cruelty. 

Everything he had seen before paled in comparison to this. 

Not necessarily because it was worse, but because it was Virgil.  

As soon as he had seen what the cavern contained, he had almost lost control then and there, but destroying the exit would help no one, so instead he prioritized ensuring that Dee didn’t see his brother in such a state. Children were always so convinced they were ready to see horrible things, but they never were.  

Remy would spare Dee the nightmares tonight. 

He turned back to the cavern to try and assess the damage and figure out the best way to help. The royals had already begun to swarm the gargantuan form of Virgil’s body, trying to identify the problems. The dragon is chained like a dog, strong iron manacles wrapped around his legs and neck, the skin around it rubbed raw and red. His wings are pinned down with iron stakes through the membrane, bound to the ground unable to be moved for fear of ripping the skin. A heavy iron muzzle keeping his muzzle shut and his snout weighed down, and his horns weighed down to make lifting his head impossible. 

Remy staggers forward, there are tubes protruding from Virgil’s flank, draining blood into enormous cylinders to the side of the cavern. They fill the air with the thick scent of blood. That effect is aided by the large patches of scale-less skin marring Virgil’s hide. Pinprick wounds where the scales were ripped away. He had been put into a light daze, probably to manage the pan and keep hm under control. Remy could see the magic clinging to Virgil’s body like syrup, sticky and obstructive, slowing everything down. 

Remy makes his way over to Virgil’s snout, placing a condoling hand on his brother’s snout. The muzzle has no buckle or seam, it was closed with magic clearly. Upon contact, Virgil gave a tired whine and twitched, but otherwise didn’t respond. Remy wanted to say something, but the dragon’s eyes stayed resolutely closed, and left Remy effectively muted. He leaned his head in to touch Virgil’s, his horns lightly brushing Virgil’s skin. Not enough to hurt, never enough to hurt, but maybe Virgil could tell it was him. Remy hoped so 

They would fix this, Virgil would be okay. 

He would. 

* * *

 

_Virgil could only hear snippets of the conversation being had over his head._

_“-ven more useful…”_

_“What about the ransom?”_

_“There will be no need if this actually works…”_

_There was the scent of parchment and magic. There was silence. Virgil had no idea what was going on, he couldn’t hear. He was fairly certain he was dreaming, was he dreaming?_

_Then there was a rush of power, almost painful. Like a dam had burst and the flood overcame him as a tidal wave. He could feel his body twist and snap in familiar patterns. Changing and distorting to accommodate the sheer amount of energy coursing through his system._

_“…I’m really glad we had the foresight to bring it down here before you did that.”_

_“As long as we ward the chains to keep a constant flow of power going, it shouldn’t be able to change back…”_

* * *

 

Patton's heart ached as they looked over Virgil. The more they looked, the more was wrong, he was trapped and wouldn’t wake. His body was abused and battered. It was a pitiful sight. Patton remembered Virgil's draconic form the first time they saw it. Terrifying, but also tall and proud. Then Logan had cast the spell and Virgil had been the one who was scared, but he had never looked…. Like this. Broken and fragile.

Remy is signing to Logan and they’re preparing to lift whatever spell they need to, Roman is painstakingly levering the stakes out of Virgil’s wings, and as they work, no one but Patton notices a great, yellow eye cracking open. Patton walks over so he’s in view.

“Hello kiddo, can you hear me?”

Virgil’s eyes threaten to slip shut again and Patton taps his snout gently.

“Hey now, stay with me. Come on.”

Patton could feel the rise and fall of Virgil’s flank beneath his hands, and he used the pressure to keep the dragon’s attention. Slowly, Virgil became more lucid as Logan and Patton began to lift the spell keeping him placid. Unfortunately, with the lifting of that spell came the awareness of the pain his body was in. Low grumbles quickly turned to whimpers through the muzzle as Virgil became more aware of the state of his battered body. Patton could feel the muscles under his hands tense up, and the king knew that it would help no one for Virgil to panic like this.

“Virgil, focus on my voice.”

Virgil made a small sound and his eyes drifted open again, locking on Patton. He made a small crooning noise and Patton shushed him softly.

“Hush kiddo, it’ll be okay, we got you.”

* * *

 

They removed the tubes draining Virgil’s blood, but the iron was warded, there was no way to get it off without specialized equipment. Equipment Logan had, but back at the palace, not here. That did pose a problem, because that entailed either moving Virgil, big as he was, or leaving him alone and risk getting caught. Neither was really an option right now unless…

“Remy, are you able to carry Virgil back to the palace?”

Remy made a face and signed back,

‘I can carry him, yeah, but my other form won’t fit in here.’

Logan nodded.

“That is where I come in. This plan will involve us leaving the cavern, but not for long, and after that we can get Virgil away from this place.”

Remy seemed reluctant to leave his brother in such a state, but they didn’t have unlimited time and they all knew it. Remy’s mouth settled into a thin line and the four of them left the cavern. Virgil let out a panicked sound between a squeak and a purr, all of them placed a hand on his skin to let him know they weren’t abandoning him.

“We’ll be right back, I promise.”

Patton swore before they filtered out towards the tunnel. Dee sat on the stairs with his chin in his hands, the very image of a bored child, or perhaps an impatient one. He wanted to know what was going on with Virgil as much as any of them. The snake-child’s eyes scanned them.

“Virgil is with you…” Remy gave him a forced smile and gestured for the younger beats-witch to follow as they climbed to the surface. “Go! We have Virgil!”

“We’re working on it kiddo.” Patton assured him. “Logan’s got a plan.”

They emerged to the starry sky and wide pastures. So peaceful for what monstrosities lay beneath it. Logan took a deep breath and gathered his magic. This would take effort. Equal parts force and finesse, as he didn’t want to bring the cavern down on top of Virgil, but he needed enough force to break it open. It would take focus.

Letting the desire to help Virgil guide his hand, the ground began to rumble as a fissure began to split the ground, cracking the earth like an egg and forcing the soil and bedrock to the side rather than down.

He needed to get to Virgil, explain himself, _apologize._  

With one final heave, the earth bent to his will and the ground opened.

* * *

 

Remy shifted and the ground fell away as he grew taller than the trees and boulders in the distance. The hole Logan had made was easily large enough for him to bend down and scoop Virgil’s body into his hands.

Remy looked as the restrained dragon resting in his paws. He needed two hands now, using one left neck and tail hanging out from between his fingers like a handful of purple spaghetti. A pang of nostalgia hit him. He remembered when he could carry Dee and Virgil in the same hand and still have room to carry the dinner of the day.

His brothers were growing up, what an odd notion to one as timeless as he.

Getting older and more mature, perhaps, but today was not a day for his brothers to take the helm. He was perfectly content to allow Virgil to fill the role of protector. Let the dragon-witch take charge of making sure they ate right or didn’t hurt people. But today, Remy was the oldest and the protector of their ragtag little family. He could deal with that.

The iron was cold against his palms, and Virgil warm. He could feel the vibrations of Virgil crooning into him, trying to gain comfort, and he was more than happy to provide. A gentle squeeze enveloped Virgil in his warmth and his scent at he tried to vanish the horrors of the last few weeks.

Down below, he could hear Roman trying to distract Dee. Remy appreciated it, as there was no way he would let Dee see Virgil like this. He knew already that this was one of the memories that would be haunting his nights for centuries to come. He wondered if Virgil would still stay up with him and make him tea after this. If this would change things. Of course it would, how could it not? But would there be a pretense of normalcy? Would they settle into an equilibrium? Or would there forever be shadows under his brother’s eyes…

_“You’re thinking too hard, Remy. Take your own advice and pop a chill pill.”_

A voice that sounded suspiciously like Virgil’s piped up and he took a deep breath. His exhale rustled the grass like a breeze, but it did a good job of elevating some of the anxiety. He carefully ran a finger down Virgil’s back as a reassurance, and kept walking towards the palace.

The worst of it was over, now came the hard part.

Healing.

* * *

 

It was three days later that Virgil changed back. Turns out that just because he couldn’t access the energy due to the cap on his magic, didn’t mean that his body stopped making it, and once the spell was removed, the resulting build up had flung him into dragon form to try shed some of the build up and restore his body to equilibrium. Then, his captors had kept a constant stream of power running through him to maintain his draconic form. Logan’s notes were very detailed, perhaps too much, Virgil now had a new respect for the old masters who wrote their life’s work in riddle.

Those three days were filled with a surprisingly hovering Remy dressing his wounds and telling him stories. Virgil appreciated it greatly. He was in a good deal of pain and the distraction was welcome. A part of him longed for the days when Remy would sing to him when he was sick and sore like this, but a bigger part of him was simply happy to have Remy here. He had missed his family more than he had even realized. Patton and Roman came too, after the first day, Telling him how glad they were that he was safe. They told him how they had found him and what Logan had done to get him out. Apparently the mage had exhausted himself, and fallen into a deep sleep upon returning to the palace, but he was recovering swiftly.

It was on the dawn of the second day that Virgil awoke to a small warmth under his wings and saw Dee curled up against him. Remy had said that he hadn’t wanted their youngest brother to see Virgil bound and injured in such a way, and Virgil fully agreed, even so Virgil was glad to see him. They couldn’t have hidden this forever anyway, Dee was more observant than he was often given credit for.

There was definitely something strained in Dee’s eyes when he got a proper look at Virgil in chains the next morning. The patches where the harvesters had taken his scales were bruised and bloody, and the wounds from the tubes still gave a little blood now and then, but Remy had practice dressing wounds so they were getting better by the day. Dee also eyes the chains with suspicion and contempt, but it was only a matter of time until they came off and Virgil was free to move again. The potion to melt them was brewing as they spoke and would be ready anytime now.

Virgil reveled in the presence of his brothers and the visits he got from Roman and Patton. The thought of facing Logan made his stomach twist, but…

Virgil’s captivity had made him realize that what Logan wanted from him wasn’t a captivity. He just wanted Virgil to stay. Logan was afraid of loosing Virgil, so he made a bad decision. Virgil didn’t like how Logan had gone about it, but he… he sort of understood.

* * *

 

Logan climbed the spire that the beast-witches called their temporary home on the fifth day after Virgil’s return. He had been putting the visit off as long as possible, and now it was eating him up inside, he had expected to have to face the music when he released Virgil from his chains, but then Virgil had changed back and slipped out himself, so now they were simply dancing around one another as they both recovered from the events of a week ago.

When he knocked, Dee opened the door. He was met with the mismatched gaze of the snake child and Logan felt exposed. Did Remy and Dee know what he had done? Did Virgil tell them? Did they hate him too? If they did, Dee made no indication of it and opened the door a little wider.

“You can’t come in, you know.”

Logan nodded slightly.

“Thank you.”

Remy was sipping some green tea at the table, eyes flying across some book that was probably older than the kingdom (Remy’s little collection had Logan insanely jealous). Remy looked up at him and Logan waved, a few shades off of shy. Remy didn’t smile, but his eyes were kind as he gestured for Logan to sit.

‘Virgil’s asleep, you wanted to see him?’

“Yes, I wanted to talk to him.”

‘About what you did?’

“I- Yes, I take it he told you.”

Remy nodded.

‘I won’t pretend I haven’t seen humans do some pretty stupid things for love, but that was dumb.’

Logan blanched, partially because Remy seemed a lot less angry than he thought he would be, but also because…

“Love?”

‘Naturally. I wouldn’t call it anything else. People don’t act like that for mere acquaintances, that’s for sure.’

Logan mulled on that. Love. Could it be? Something about it seemed… good. Right. But could it really be love if he had been so selfish?

‘As long as you learn from this, and allow him to be angry at you for it, I think things will be fine.’

Remy went back to his book, the conversation over. Logan considered what the chimera had said.

Love…

Well then.

* * *

 

Virgil looked up as Logan peered his head in. He looked abashed, but thoughtful. A very Logan-esque expression, and unfairly endearing.

“Virgil, how are you feeling?”

Virgil gave a half smile.

“Better.” He rasped. After such abuse, then weeks of disuse, his voce was a little on the rough side. “I’m glad to be home.”

“Home?”

“With my family.”

“Ah.”

An awkward silence hung over the two of them for a moment before Virgil spoke up.

“Remy told me what you did, to get me out of there. That must have been hard.”

Logan looked at his feet.

“I didn’t see another option. I needed to get you away from that place so badly…”

“You could have hurt yourself.”

“I did not think of that at the time.”

And he really hadn’t. The effect the spell would have on hi hadn’t even crossed his mind, it had been all about getting Virgil out of that place and back to the castle and ensuring that nobody could ever touch Virgil the way these people did ever again.

Virgil looked pained at the idea.

“I am not so important that you should abandon your own health to help me. I’m grateful, but don’t do that again.”

Logan took a step forward, giving Virgil space still, but moving closer.

“But I would. Because you are that important. To me, to all of us.”

“What, and you aren’t? Patton and Roman wouldn’t be upset if you got hurt? I-“ Virgil cut himself off. “Don’t do that again, okay? For me.”

Logan chanced another step, and wasn’t pushed away as he got within arm’s distance of the other.

“You’re important too, Logan.”

Logan nodded and took a gamble. He reached out and took Virgil’s hand. The warm hand in his own a mutual reassurance. _I am here, and so are you. We are okay._

“I’m sorry.”

Logan blurted it out, no time to build up to it. It needed to be said. He almost regretted it when he saw Virgil’s face. It was conflicted.

“I know. That’s why this is so hard, I know you meant well, but what you did was wrong. Just talk to me about this stuff Logan, don’t trap me here because you’re afraid of how I’ll react.” Logan nodded and went to pull his hand away, but Virgil kept it in a tight grasp. “But, you’re a person and you’re allowed to make dumb choices. I understand that you didn’t know what to do, and after what you did I have plenty of proof that you care about me. Just… I don’t know.”

Logan’s heart was in his throat, but he swallowed past it.

“How about we… talk. Rather than all of the secret keeping. Level the playing field.”

Virgil dared a half grin.

“Sounds good. Let’s see if I can escape Remy’s watchful eye tomorrow, and we can go to that bakery you like. Talk there.”

With that, Logan noticed that Virgil was looking a little pale and ordered him to bed.

“Mage’s orders.”

He said with good humour, making sure that Virgil was comfortable and not leaning on any injuries befpre heading dor the door. As he opened it, Virgil sleepily spoke up.

“Logan?”

He turned back to look at the dragon-witch, who was smiling at him from the bed.

“Yes?”

“See you tomorrow, six.”

Logan’s heart soared and he felt strangely light.

“I’ll be there.”

“You better be.”

Virgil muttered from under the covers, turning away to sleep. Logan walked through the door and closed it behind him with a goofy smile on his face.

Love huh?

Love indeed.


End file.
